Henry went on vacation to a Carob factory!

He visited a tourist attraction called Carobana, and discovered that one of the owners, Jean Hamey, had a lot more to talk about than just carob! She and her husband Ian operate Carobana, which is a tourist attraction, and a factory, which manufactured Carob coated treats.

If you have never seen carob, it is a large seed pod of the carob tree. We actually have them in San Diego where I (Kathe) live. First you remove the seeds. Then you dry and powder the pod. Jean explains the rest of the process in the interview.

Image of Carob by Wikipedia: ICC BY-SA 3.0

Jean agreed to talk about her carob organization with Henry.

She and her husband inherited the place after her in-laws passed away. They now have a successful manufacturing, retail and tourism business. Much of the interview focuses on the development of the enterprise, and Jean’s unique business skills.

As far as the carob business, Ian has built much of the machinery, and persistence and hard work have produced a steady growth which has resulted in the success Carabana is today.

A couple of things to know about carob are:

The pod not only contains many small beans, but also a semi-sweet pulp.

Carob pods are used as a cocoa substitute for chocolate flavoring. It doesn't taste like exactly like chocolate but it does work as a substitute.

On a diet? Carob contain just 1/3rd of the calories of chocolate.

Even if you are allergic to chocolate, you can usually eat Carob.

Henry asked Jean what she was going to do after her imminent retirement. And boy does she have plans! Not only has she been running a business all these years, but she also does book-binding, writes children's books, AND writes craft books as well. So she has a lot going on.

Photo By AntonellaD at the English language Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0

Have you ever heard of “Quilling”?

I, Kathe, had never heard of this before, but Jean has written a book on it Quilling Beauties of the Bush. You may have heard of it, but it's basically a way to make beautiful 3D pictures out of paper. Basically, you use strips of paper and then roll or shape them, and glue them together.

Then you loop, curl, and twist the paper until it makes something beautiful.

Quilling creates greeting cards, jewelry, or pretty much anything that you want to make in a 3D manner.

I (Kathe) found the quilling part of the interview to be fascinating. It was fun to learn a little about a hobby that I'd never heard of. Of course once I looked it up, I realized that I had seen the finished works of these artists.

If you are in Australia you can purchase Jean's tasty treats at http://www.carobana.com.au/. And you can purchase her quilling books anywhere in the world on Amazon.

Have you ever done quilling or eaten carob? Let us know what you think in the comments below.

Special Thanks to:

Angie Strehlow who helps us get great guests that help us with our retirement lifestyle while keeping everything on track…and helps with these show notes!

Les Briney, my husband, and Danny Ozment of Emerald City Pro who edits the show and makes my guests and me sound terrific

Henry Shapiro, host of Retired Excited that airs on Fridays

YOU for telling your friends about the show, leaving comments below, and sharing episodes you really like on Facebook, and reviewing the show on iTunes